Irrepressible Wounds
by Prolixus24
Summary: This would be the hardest goodbye he would ever have to make, but he prayed that she would understand.
1. Chapter 1

I enjoyed reading Chapter 61 of the Nabari No ou manga series so much that I just had to write my own interpretation. The relationship between Raimei and Kouichi intrigues me because its a pairing that is ultimately ill fated. If you have yet to read the chapter, I thoroughly encourage you too. This is my first submission to FanFiction so I hope you all like what you read. PLEASE REVIEW! Even if you find that you hate it, let me know because I would really like to know what you think.

Im going to be adding more chapters onto this in the near future. I simply thought that this was an ideal place to begin the journey for these two.

I do not own Nabari No ou and am completely indebted to the makers behind the scenes. Without you, we anime lovers would not be able to enjoy the characters that we love so much.

Thanks!

Chapter 1: Irrepressible Wounds

Raimei gasped as the rough metal blade of the katana flashed through her eyes momentarily and fell crashing to the ground. All aspects of time stood still, and then, without any warning, her breath caught in her throat as the emotions and memories came flooding to the forefront of her mind. Her mother, her brother Raikou, all of the Shimizu clan who had fought and died for the sake of justice screamed at her through Korogamon s deafening silence. She had failed them yet again.

The overwhelming realization of her persistent weakness enveloped her to the point in which she felt her body growing instantly numb. She felt nothing and everything all at once, and was unable to control the imbalance. She sensed her knees give way, but did not have the strength to stop herself from falling, nor the desire to care.

As she collided with the harsh concrete, she had all but accepted her defeat, though it was painfully apparent. She had found herself time and time again fighting battles in which she could not win. She couldn't help Miharu with the burden he carried, she couldn t stand between her brother and the opposition he faced, and she couldn't tempt fate to alter its twisted course.

Kouichi...

Her heart sank as she thought his name. She had failed in her venture concerning him as well. She had known from the very beginning his intentions to seek an end to his existence, and yet, knowing that, she had let him in. As time drew on she had felt him pulling away, as if he was attempting to sever himself from her ever so slowly, as to not spark her notice. She had tried to tell herself that that wasn t the case, but the look of determination she had seen in his eyes earlier told her that she had only been lying to herself. She'd merely been subduing the inevitable pain she knew she would meet upon his departure.

Raimei clenched her fists in annoyance. She had fought so hard to keep him from leaving, offered up her heart and soul to make him stay, and it still had not been enough. Why was she always so helpless? Why couldn t she stop the ones that she cared so deeply for from leaving her? Couldn't they all see that she didn't want to be alone? Didn't they care?

She fought back the tears that threatened to surface as she heard him walk quietly towards her. She refused to let him see this weakness she harbored. If this was goodbye, then she was going to escape it with some sense of dignity. Though her heart was tearing itself apart inside, she would not let him catch a glimpse of it.

She sensed more than heard his approach. She turned her head hastily, stealing away the opportunity for him to scrutinize her face. She listened as his breath steadily grew stronger as the ancient hitjitsu went to work healing the wounds she had inflicted. Raimei frowned slightly. She knew the moment she had drawn her katana that he would deliberately avoid hurting her, but that didn t mean she had to return the favor.

She heard him take a deep breath before uttering her name.

"Raimei?" ...

"I don't want to hear it Kouichi!" she hissed before he could even manage to form another word. Raimei felt herself angrily withdrawing from the outside world. She didn t want to have to feel the weight of his words. She didn t even want to permit them to be spoken into existence. Perhaps if he was never given the opportunity to whisper his farewell, then it would never truly happen. Whatever it was, whatever gentleman like reason he had for leaving, she didn't want to hear it.

Raimei felt him closer now, waiting to see if she would be willing to accept him openly. Though she hadn't looked up to meet his eyes, she could tell that there was something off about his demeanor. He was cautious with her like usual, but there was also something understanding in the way he seemed to be looking at her; something comfortable, and at the same time, daring.

---

Kouichi hurled his final dagger forward, praying with everything he could muster that his aim would strike true. He didn't want to hurt Raimei in this manner, but he could tell from the burning fire in her eyes that she had no intention of ceasing her pursuit until there was a decisive victor. Her fury had left him with no other alternative. As he felt the smooth metal in his hand slice clean through, his heart momentarily sighed in relief, but the peace was to be short lived. He watched helplessly as her cherished weapon slipped from her grasp and fell slowly through the air without a fight. It was the end, and he had come out on top.

Finally finding the chance to breathe, Kouichi inhaled the precious air around him and instantly felt the pain from his wounds surge throughout his entire body. He clenched his stomach where the pain seemed to especially resonate and gritted his teeth.

"Raimei, you don't fight fair do you." he chuckled half heartedly to himself.

Lifting his gaze again, he was met with an unexpected scene. Raimei had succumbed to her knees and had her head bent down in such a way that it hid her features from him. Kouichi couldn't help the slight flutter he felt in his heart at the sight of her trying so hard to hide the obvious from him. He didn't have to see her face to know that she was holding back tears. He knew her too well by this point.

As he tried to take a step forward, he found himself unconsciously reaching up to coddle his stomach once again. Although it hurt somewhat, the stabbing pain was really nothing to him. He knew it wouldn't be long before the cursed hijitsu began its work on healing his body. He didn't have to bother himself with trivial human inheritances like bleeding to death. He never really considered himself to be alive most of the time anyways. I mean, were you really alive if you had no way of dying? He never thought so, at least, not until...

His thoughts halted.

At least, not until, he had met her.

Kouichi's heart quickened as he focused his gaze onto the broken girl that lay before him. She had changed his point of view on a lot of things concerning himself, and he hadn t even realized it. Suddenly, he remembered all of the words he had always wanted to tell her, everything that he had never been able to openly admit to her before. Things he knew now that he couldn t leave without saying.

He gathered his strength and began to walk slowly towards her. He knew she had to have heard his movement and yet she still hadn t even so much as flinched from her place. It didn't matter though. He knew what all must be going through her mind. Shame, defeat, annoyance at her weakness; all the faults she always seemed to remind herself of constantly. He wished that she wouldn't be so hard on herself. He had never met a human who fought with so much heart and he doubted he ever would. Her refusal to give up despite overwhelming circumstances was what made her so unique. It was the reason he had fallen in love with her.

He stopped short of where she sat, waiting for the words to fall into place. So many emotions and feelings were rushing through his mind that he had no way of keeping them all in order. Though his shy side made him somewhat hesitant, he knew it was now or, perhaps, never.

"Raimei?"

"I don't want to hear it Kouichi!" she hollered at him. He was momentarily taken aback by the force behind her deliverance, but soon realized he really hadn't expected anything different. Typical Raimei, he thought to himself with a smile, always so stubbornly offensive. His heart melted as he watched her struggle with every last bit of strength she had to hold it together in front of him.

Kneeling down so that his face was level with hers, he began to slowly analyze her every feature so as to file it away properly within his memory. Her hair had fallen loose during the fighting and was hanging hap hazardously around her eyes. It was rare for her to wear it down like this, but he admitted that he liked it when she did. His eyes continued to follow the delicate line of her face, lingering slightly longer on the pouting frown of her lips. He then allowed his gaze to venture up to her eyes where he found, something he wasn t quite expecting. Instead of the shame and defeat he had anticipated to encounter, there lay only a raw sadness in their place. Her pools of chestnut brown were glancing off into space, wearily refusing to look into his. It was as if every last ounce of strength to fight had left them. She was waiting on something, waiting for some sort of inevitable surrender.

It pained him deeply to see her like this. She was always one to wear her heart on her sleeve, and he knew right now that she was angry and lost inside. She carried some deep scars he knew, and more than anything, he wanted to be the one to heal them.

But he had he had his own battle wounds, ones that couldn't be fixed. It was these scars that prevented him from ever getting too close to anyone. He couldn't change their fate, although he tried. He would always be the one left behind to pick up the pieces when they were gone. Such a task was never something that got easier with time.

Knowing this sad truth, he gathered himself together to say the words he was always meant to say. Taking the sight of her in, he knew this was going to be the hardest goodbye he would ever have to make. But this way was better. He was a walking immortal whose only purpose seemed to be to bring about the untimely death of others. He would not allow himself to be responsible for Raimei's.

As he opened his mouth to speak, he prayed with all his heart that she would understand.

---

Well, I hope you enjoyed. More to come!

- Prolixus


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

She didn't know how much longer she could do this. The burning hole in her chest was making it nearly impossible to just sit there waiting for it to completely devour her. More than anything, Raimei wished she could just run away and never look back, but the acceptance of what was about to come had rendered her body immobile. She couldn't run from this, even if she desperately wanted to.

As she lay motionless, something within the confines of her mind was informing her that she was bleeding, but she effortlessly faded the warning into silence. She wasn't even the slightest bit concerned about her physical self. That pain was trivial, barely even meriting her acknowledgement. The pain she was feeling wasn't in her flesh but somewhere much deeper. Somewhere that couldn't be reached.

She sighed at the sobering realization. Stab wounds were simple, she thought solemnly to herself, merely warranting some gauze and a few strips of tape.

The pain one endures when they sever themselves from another human being is something entirely different.

Raimei was no stranger to separation. She had gone through the process multiple times, all in one brief moment. She had not known prior to that terrible day the disadvantages to forming a bond with so many numerous people. She had freely given away her whole heart to her family, and when they had unexpectedly left this earth, they took those irreplaceable pieces with them.

It was something of a miracle when she realized years later that she still possessed a few tiny fragments. She had not known till this very moment though, that she had unconsciously given them away.

Raimei smiled sadly to herself as she began to picture their faces. They had become the things that kept her just beyond the brink of insanity. When all she had felt like doing was giving up the fight and letting the darkness envelop her completely, she heard their laughter, and she remembered why it was she fought in the first place.

She remembered Miharu's ridiculous outfit at the train station.

She remembered the first time she witnessed just how severe Tabari Sensai's fear of moving vehicles was.

… She remembered how it felt to see Kouichi blush.

The edges of the hole in her chest burned faintly.

It had seemed like hours had gone by since she had first felt him approach, but now she felt him suddenly more ominous. Raimei knew he was patiently waiting for some sort of acknowledgement on her end; the familiar assurance that told him, despite everything that had just transpired, she was going to be ok.

But she didn't know if she could give him that this time, because this time, he was the one causing the pain.

Raimei exhaled frustratingly. This dependency that she had developed towards Kouichi unsettled her greatly. She had come to need him for reasons that didn't even make sense to her. She hadn't been prepared for the surge of joy she had felt upon seeing him again during their encounter with the new Kira user. When her eyes had locked onto his figure in disbelief, it had taken all of her restraint to force herself from not running into his arms. Her aching heart in that moment had endorsed the idea that his sudden reappearance into her life meant that he had returned for good. However, one look into his eyes had shattered that dream completely. This had been a chance meeting, a mistake. And now he was trying to leave again, only this time, she knew it would be permanent.

She heard the gravel crunch lazily under his feet as he knelt down to be level with her. She could feel his soft gaze searching the lines of her face for some kind of indication as to what was going on internally. She wasn't at all sure what he would find. She hardly knew herself how to organize all of the numerous emotions into something of a definition. All she knew was, he was all she had left…

And she needed him.

Raimei sighed wearily, all the more loathing herself for being such a coward.

Why was that so difficult to admit to him? Why couldn't she just tell him that she needed him to stay with her? Why couldn't she tell him that she was afraid she was falling for him...?

She felt the tears threatening to surface once again and she cursed herself for caring for someone whose fate was already sealed.

Even if she did pour out her heart to him, deep down, she knew it wouldn't make any difference. Her confession wouldn't erase the fact that he was an immortal and she was not. They would never be able to set that distinction aside. His immortality was his most hated burden, and he was determined to rid himself of it. How could she possibly believe that her feelings for him would be enough to make him abandon his quest to end his very existence? She could give him everything that was left of her, and he would still have no choice but to walk away.

And she would be left with nothing.

Fate was a curious thing, thought Raimei bitterly. Only fate would have it arranged so that the girl with but a shard of love left in her heart to give would end up giving it to the one boy who wanted to accept it but couldn't.

Yes, thought Raimei as she brought herself back to the present, fate was a curious thing indeed.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Words seemed to fail Kouichi as he stood motionless, thinking that he had never beheld something so painfully beautiful as the broken woman who lay before him. He couldn't help but realize that no one would ever be able to see her as clearly as he saw her here in this lingering moment. All of the barriers that once kept the outside world at bay had crumbled around her, and what remained was purely that of a girl who was desperately clinging to something that was already lost. He saw her now, all of her. There were no secrets that she could keep hidden from him anymore. Kouichi could see that she too had finally realized how vulnerable she had become to him, and it was apparent that that knowledge haunted her.

Somehow, he had always known this day would come, and he loathed himself for allowing it to be under these circumstances. It had not been long after their initial meeting that Kouichi had noticed a crack in Raimei's seemingly happy exterior. It was evident to him that she had been deeply wounded by something in her past, and that wound would ultimately make her dependant on those closest to her as a form of refuge from the pain. When he had first gathered this about her, he had sought to distance himself from her so that when the day did arrive for his departure, he wouldn't create yet another wound for her to have to endure. However, somewhere along the lines, he had grown selfish. He found himself unable to stay away from her. Her heart called out to his so strongly, he was soon rendered powerless to resist her desire for his company. He sighed as he considered the influence that she had over him. She had unknowingly tamed the beast that ravaged his soul. How could he possibly let her go when she had accomplished in him what no one else had? She had the ability to suppress his blood lust and loneliness with a simple smile. To lose that...to lose her, became unfathomable. He would choose to live with this curse forever, if it meant that he could just see that smile. Even if she never shared the same sentiments that he held for her, he was content just to be near her.

But… he had never thoroughly considered the implications of what her shared sentiments would mean, until the day when it became a reality.

Kouichi had begun to suspect that she was growing attached to him, but he brushed it off as mere wishful thinking on his part. It was ridiculous really, how could someone as pure hearted as Raimei resort to caring about someone whose hands had murdered hundreds of people? She would have to be insane. However, he couldn't ignore the sadness that swept through her eyes whenever they parted. She sincerely missed him when he was gone, just like he missed her. She tried to hide it, but those eyes betrayed her feelings every time.

Kouichi realized too late what he had done. He had abandoned his better judgment and had sought to form a relationship with someone who would come to depend on him for more than he was able to give. He had positioned himself to become the inevitable source of her suffering. And he hated himself more than was humanly possible for it.

So he left, in an attempt to mend what he had unconsciously broken. In his heart, he knew that it was probably pointless, the damage had already been inflicted, but he had to try.

And now, here he stood, yet again.

He had promised himself that he would stay out of her life, all the while he had been keeping an eye on her from the shadows. There were times when he watched her that he saw the hurt clearly etched on her face. It took everything he had not to reveal himself and tell her that he was sorry for putting her through all this, but each time he stopped himself. He was part of the reason she didn't smile much anymore. How could he possibly think that he had a right to even speak to her…

Today had been different though. He couldn't just stand by and let those thugs beat her senseless, or worse. Even if it caused her more pain to see him again, he would make sure that she kept on living. Maybe he couldn't save his own life, but he would see to it that he saved hers.

Kouichi felt the warmth from this resignation surge thru him, the path that he had long been designed to pursue shimmering ever so clearly in his mind. He was no longer plagued with doubt concerning his decision. Though Raimei meant nothing less than everything to him, he would give her up if it meant that she would be safe. He laughed half-heartedly, finally understanding after all this time what true love _really_ entailed. It was sacrificing your own happiness for the well being of the one you held dear. Such a sentiment sounded difficult on the surface, but it really wasn't. The pain from his absence would lessen to her in time. She would move on.

And she would be happy.

Kouichi turned to face her again, pushing his secretly aching heart as far away from feeling as was possible.

"Please Raimei," he thought quietly to himself, "please understand why I have to do this."

He felt the smile he always saved for her fall effortlessly into place.

"I'm glad that I could live in the same generation as you…" he began suddenly. Her gaze shifted suspiciously to meet his, and he forced himself not to chuckle at the glare she emitted within the curious look.

"You're really clumsy, and quick to fight." He paused watching her intently. "And kind, and honest to everyone, aren't you." It wasn't a question as much as it was a personal analysis.

She was staring at him now with a confused expression, as if she hadn't expected the conversation to be progressing along this route. But she remained abnormally silent, somehow knowing that she needed to let him continue without interruption. And he was thankful for the reservation.

"My adopted mother and father from the Aizawas raised this form of mine called "Kouichi" to the best of their abilities. And I'm deeply indebted to them for that. But… they never knew about the "bird" me. The thought wouldn't have even crossed their minds." He smiled sadly to himself. "It's better that way," he said simply.

He felt Raimei tense at his words, knowing full well that she silently disagreed with his statement. A wave of pride reverberated through him, but he knew that she was naïve to the reality that laced delicate subjects like this one. Sometimes it was better to be naïve and be happy than to know the truth and be miserable. Some truths were better off left in the dark.

He sighed. "If they were to know about the "bird" me," he continued, "it would only cause them unnecessary sadness."

He looked into Raimei's eyes now, remembering how afraid he had been the first time he took his true form in front of her. He was certain at the time that it would change something between them. He was sure she would only be able to perceive him afterwards as a monster, an experiment gone cruelly wrong. But she had caught him off guard yet again with her unconditional acceptance of what he was.

"Kouichi is just Kouichi!" she had stated simply to the world around her. The commanding tone in her voice had echoed through the air in a way that casted out any doubt to that reasoning. She had said it, and that made it so.

Kouichi looked at her endearingly, wanting her to grasp just how much those simple words had become his salvation.

"That one time," he whispered to her, "those words you spoke to me while I was in that form won't ever leave my heart."

She looked back at him with a gaze that demonstrated that she knew exactly what instance he was referring to. The depth lying within her almond eyes told him that she had meant what she said, and nothing was ever going to change that. Without even uttering a single word, she understood him completely. Kouichi felt his heart swell, knowing that she was the only one who adorned this capability.

Suppressing the overwhelming emotion that was forcefully trying to break through the prison he had placed around his heart, he willed the next words forward, praying with everything he had left that he could get out everything that he needed to say.

He swallowed the pain. "No matter how far I pull or reject, you always tried to walk with me." He felt himself smiling solemnly. "I was happy…"

He felt a flash of rage race through him for a moment. He was happy with her. Happier than he could ever remember being in all the years he had been in existence. And now, because of what he was, he was personally handing over that happiness. Though he knew it was necessary, he couldn't fully subdue the bitterness that it left in his mouth.

"It was frustrating… that hand you reached out to me. I want to grasp it with my wings so much..."

He faltered, lowering his head so that she wouldn't be able to see the pain that flickered across his face.

But I can't.

He raised his head heavily and gazed solely into her now saddened eyes. The pain that pulsed through his veins was…unbearable. Every ounce of his being was pleading with him not to do this, not to leave her like this. But his will was stronger. He loved her, and because he loved her, he had to let her go.

He felt his hand reach out to gently wipe away a smudge of dirt that lay on her cheek. The simple touch wreaked fire up and down his skin. He had never before touched her in such a way, but the feeling felt natural.

Right.

"There were always kind people in every generation, but Raimei, you're more special…

and surpassed both age.

and time."

He looked at her adoringly, as only he could look at her.

"You stole my heart."

* * *

Sorry it took longer than usual to update. I hope you all like it! thanks for the support and I will def try to update my next chapter with absolute haste :)

Until Then

Prolixus


	4. Chapter 4

Hello!thank you for the reviews and thank you to all the other readers out there who are following along but haven't reviewed yet. I have one more chapter to finish concerning Ch. 61 of the manga and then i'm going to branch out into my own story from there. I'm sorry if it seems like I'm drawing this out too long but this is the groundwork for the rest so ITS VERY IMPORTANT. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 4

Raimei's heart skipped a beat, and then promptly ceased to function altogether. She stared dumbfounded as his fiery chestnut eyes danced radiantly upon her face. His countenance betrayed no deceit or humor, he was well aware of what he had just spoken, and his eyes blazed with a sincere honesty. Raimei felt her adrenaline began to run wildly. They were such simple, seemingly trivial words; but strung together in that order, and then voiced by this man who had the unnerving ability to catch her breath with one look, their meaning had instantly become a crushing weight upon her chest. What did such a declaration mean? Why was he divulging all of this to her now? What was the reason behind it all?

She felt the touch of his hand like a burning hot coal. The light caress of his fingers was so warm and gentle, so reassuring without even trying to be. This was the way Kouichi had always been to her. He was a strong, commanding fighter when he needed to be, but he could turn around and become the warm solace that she had grown to consider home in an instant. Since the day they had called themselves comrades, he had always held her gaze with his own, promising with every look that he would be her protection. He would shield her from the outside world and give her happiness no matter what it cost him. That was the look that lay within his eyes as she gazed upon him now. His resolve was absolute, his decision final. He would keep that unspoken promise between them without complaint. She could divulge this easily, and yet, there was a soft sadness embedded deep behind this certainty, a sadness that he couldn't completely conceal from her.

Raimei felt her heart shatter as she glimpsed this suppressed side of him that still longed to overthrow his resolve. His eyes told her everything. They told her he wanted to waver, but he wouldn't, they told her that though he was smiling on the outside, he was crying on the inside, and they told her that this was the last time she would ever see him.

The realization hit Raimei like a ton of bricks. She didn't understand why though exactly, because somehow, she had known all along that this was to be the inevitable outcome to this meeting. He was never meant to become a permanent fixture in her life; however, having that knowledge hadn't stopped her from hoping. She never wanted to envision the moment in which Kouichi's smiling face would not be present in her life. But now that day had arrived, and she was the farthest from being prepared for it as she could possibly be. She had been trying to sort through her feelings concerning Kouichi for quite some time now, and the path she was allowing her heart to venture down scared her more than she could ever describe. She didn't want to admit to the truth that was in her heart. She didn't want to admit that she cared for him, more than anyone else, more than herself. But most of all, she didn't want to admit that there was nothing she could do to make him stay.

Raimei felt herself pulling slightly away from the warmth of his touch. She clenched her teeth angrily, trying to grasp a hold of anything that would make this entire encounter just some cruel joke. She couldn't face reality, she couldn't face those gentle eyes. The tears began to flow down her face without restraint, and she no longer cared about maintaining her composure in front of him. She was desperate for another alternative that didn't involve him leaving. Not stopping to consider what she was doing, she reached out and grasped a hold of Kouichi's shoulders.

"DON'T DIE!" she shouted pleadingly. Kouichi shifted backwards slightly in shock. But his eyes never left her face.

Raimei felt her head drop lower. "Please…" she whispered to him softly. She let her head fall upon his chest, and stayed there, taking in the familiar smell of the night woods that permeated his clothes. She wadded up part of his shirt in her fist, clinging to him with everything she had left. She could feel his chest tighten as he swallowed the beast that was trying to break free of its chains. She raised her head and met his tortured gaze with her own. There was so much pain swimming in his eyes, she was making this almost unbearable to him with her desperate pleas for him to stay, but she didn't care. She would make amends for her selfish actions later, right now, all that mattered was to be with him.

"Please." She begged once more. She tried to put on a brave smile, "Let's all…go to school together, Kouichi, Miharu, and I…"

She broke down before she had the chance to continue. The pain was becoming too much for her to handle at this point. Her body was trembling all over with the fear of living without him. She threw her arms around his neck and clung to him as if he were her very life source, and he held onto her with the same intensity. Though their worlds were falling apart, here in each other's arms, they were safe. If she let go, then it would all come crumbling down and crush her. She could never allow herself to let go of him, she needed him to know that she would cease to be without him. She needed him to know the truth.

"Kouichi," she whispered, "I…"

But the next two words never slipped past her lips. The blood loss from her injury had finally caught up with her, and she began to slowly fade into darkness. The last thing she remembered was the smell of his skin, and the featherlike feel of his hair against her face.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey there!

so as I promised this is the last chapter pertaining to the manga Ch 61. Everything from here on out is going to just be me and my little side story of Nabari. The plan I have in mind is going to stretch quite a ways so look forward to longer chapters and a new story line between these two.

I hope you like where I'm about to go with Kouichi and Raimei! Thanks for the support!

Chapter 5

Kouichi's body was being ripped apart in utter agony. The beast that comprised his soul was violently raking it's claws against the flesh that served as it's cage, all the while, Raimei sat awkwardly clinging to his chest in unrestrained desperation. Every ounce of his resolve was being viciously tested as he held the inconsolable girl in his undeserving arms. He hadn't anticipated this reaction. What he had anticipated was to be met with the full force of her unruly wrath. He had readied himself for her hatred, even welcomed it considering the pretences by which he was virtually abandoning her. Anything she had to say to him he would gladly withstand knowing that he deserved far worse punishment than her cutting words.

But this…this was too much.

She had completely forsaken any semblance of pride and was on her knees begging him to stay. Her grief stricken irises bore into his own with a consuming fierceness that he couldn't ignore. Her eloquent fingers had wrapped themselves around his shirt, groping uncontrollably to maintain a hold on his physical self. The fortitude with which she clung to him emitted the notion that she was convinced he would disappear into thin air any second. She was the sole anchor that kept him from vanishing from her world entirely.

Kouichi felt his heart swelling as he gazed down upon the head of the beautiful blonde nestled against his chest. Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes, threatening to become unceasing rivers of misery, but they stubbornly refused to leave their resting place. The animal within him writhed and screamed ruthlessly, its anguish resonating to the very extremities of his body.

He tried to swallow but choked in the effort.

"Raimei…" he thought quietly to himself, "you have to let me go."

Raimei continued to sob frantically into his chest. He could feel her body trembling ferociously from the weight of their imminent separation. Just as he was about to say something, though he had no inclination as to what, Koucihi felt her lift herself slightly and throw her arms around his neck.

At first, he didn't know how to react. The crystal-like drops from her eyes were streaming gracefully down her face in silence, alleviating even more to the beauty lying within the brokenness. Every aspect of her nature that lured Kouichi's heart mercilessly was merging together to complete this dreamlike incarnation of a girl who had captured his heart. Everything he had imagined, every fleeting thought that had been devoted to her, every longing and desire concerning her, was gathered all at once in this moment that seemed to stretch into eternity.

Kouichi wrapped his arms carefully around the middle of her back and simply held her. There was nothing else he could do, nor anything else that he wanted to do in that fragment of time. He was her stronghold once again, as well as for the last time ever again. In his arms, he held his everything, and in her arms, she held her everything.

Kouichi listened intently to the soft beating of her heart, committing each individual note to memory. He inhaled the warm vanilla smell of her hair and smiled at its fittingness. The wind whistled soulfully in the air, enveloping them in a cocoon that seemed to disband both time and place.

If only he hadn't been born a monster, if only he hadn't traveled to this town, if only he had remained oblivious to her existence…would he be content?

"Kouichi," her voice gently caressed his ear, bringing his thoughts abruptly back to the overwhelming closeness of her proximity.

She paused for a brief second, as if gathering the strength to say something. "I…"

He listened as her breathing came to an abrupt closure, and the grip around his neck suddenly loosened as her life crept quietly to a standstill. Her head dropped casually to his shoulder, and Kouichi leaned back with slight surprise to accommodate her seemingly lifeless body. He carefully placed her into a fairly comfortable position against the wall to the rear. He then rose to his full height and simply gazed at the unconscious form that seemed blatantly out of place against the crude background of the alleyway. As he stood motionless, he surveyed the setting that lay before him as though he were an artist, scrutinizing every detail of a portrait that had peeked his interest. Time seemed to embody a beautiful sense of emptiness in his mind, neither possessing a beginning nor an end. It simply was.

Kouichi sighed as exhaustion crept threateningly throughout his body. Flashes of memories containing precious fragments of the time they had spent together popped sporadically into his conscience. He was glued indefinitely to the ground in which he stood by the reminder that the memories they both shared were about to be disrupted permanently.

Movement in the left side of his peripheral vision forced him back to reality and he was instantly on guard for a potential attack. A glossy white cat was strolling smugly along the gravel that lined the deserted street. With an air of sheer elegance, the seemingly inconspicuous feline leaped effortlessly up onto the rim of the adjacent building and traipsed silently along its perimeter.

"Shijima," said Koucihi, but the animal continued along its chosen journey without so much as a backward glance in his direction.

He hadn't expected anything different from his companion. They had traveled together for so long that a spoken language wasn't necessary for them to converse with one another. Their thoughts seemed to reach their counterpart without effort. And her sheer presence was asking the same question that she had put to him while they were traveling not so long ago.

"Don't say that you feel affection for this world now of all times."

Her stare had been piercingly accusing, cornering him without the slightest bit of remorse. Koucihi hung his head shamefully, her accusation had caught him off guard but its purpose had hit its mark. Though at the time he had not wanted to admit it, he knew that she was right to confront him with the obvious. They were finally closing in on their goal; to form an attachment on the very eve of their potential departure from this world was completely irresponsible, not to mention stupid. And yet, he was guilty on accounts.

He suddenly felt all of his willingness to fight surrendering to his resignation as he stared after Shijima's fading image. He knew the only path open to him was at her side. He didn't belong in the world where he desired to be.

He began to shrug off his coat, carefully pulling one arm out and then the other. He bent down to the level of the slumbering beauty and stretched the jacket delicately across her motionless body.

With a heavy sigh he stood once again to his full height, letting all the emotions of this departure roll off of him like water on a duck's back. He turned and began walking in the direction that he watched Shikima partake. He didn't allow himself to look back, but he whispered into the vacant atmosphere, his apology for all the future pain he knew this would cause her.

"Good bye…Raimei."

His gaze hardened as he strode forward through the deserted alleyway, loathing the beast within him like he never had before.


	6. Chapter 6

Hello everyone!

As promised this is the first chapter that does not pertain to chapter 61 of the manga, this is purely my twisting of the story now. It's taking a lot more to depict the setting so expect the chapters to be increasingly lengthy. I hope none of you mind however J. Thanks for the support and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 6

_Kouichi…. Kouichi…._

Raimei felt her mind striving to operate despite the thick fog that lay heavily throughout her thoughts. It was uncannily difficult for her to focus for some particular reason. Every one of her five senses seemed to be in a rebellion against one another and they stubbornly refused to cooperate.

_Someone was shouting… shouting her name. _

_But who was it?_

Raimei felt the distant sensation of being lifted into the air. More shouting. Was it Gau? She tried to open her eyes to see who the voices belonged to, but her head was throbbing.

_Heavy breathing… was she running? _

_No. She couldn't feel her legs. _

_Was someone carrying her?_

… _Kouichi._

She tried once again to force her eyes open. This time they complied with her wishes. She gazed dizzily at the blue sky floating lazily above her, combined with the blurred images of various buildings.

_Too…weak. What's happening to me?_

_More voices. _

_Thobari Sensei? Miharu?_

Raimei tried to bring herself out of the dream that she was lost within, but she couldn't seem to break through to the surface. Something was holding her back. She was drowning in an emotion that she was unable to identify. It was suffocating her, forcing her to not recognize reality.

_Why can't I bring myself to wake up? _

The part of her that wasn't submerged in blissful confusion was suddenly afraid.

_What… happened?_

Raimei's subconscious began to wade through the dark pools of her memory. She was surrounded by an ocean of unending darkness. She became apprehensively struck by the notion that something was missing, something important.

Raimei suddenly found herself standing virtually in the middle of the emptiness. All around her lay nothing but the color of jet black ink, its vastness swallowing her skin into absolute oblivion. Even the floor by which she was supposedly standing on was veiled in it. Panic began to seep its way into her thoughts, choking her to the point where she couldn't even take a breath.

She was alone.

She gazed around frantically, trying to find something solid to hold onto. But there was nothing. Nothing to keep her from falling, and no one around to hear her scream were she to ever find her voice.

The atmosphere was unbearable. It had no sense of solidity whatsoever, only an encompassing feeling of endless unrest. The helplessness that consumed her within this unfamiliar realm was enough to place her on the brink of insanity.

Suddenly, something white in the distance caught her eye. Her heart fluttered hopefully, and she began to run towards it as fast as her legs could carry her. As she got closer, a human figure began to dissolve into being.

It was a boy with white hair… and wings.

Raimei gasped stopping abruptly a short distance from the figure. Her heart caught in her throat.

_Could it be?_

Just then, his face turned and his golden eyes met hers sadly. There was so much pain reflecting from the liquid pools that gazed purposely at her. It was as though he was almost so conflicted by his emotions that his eyes didn't see her, but saw only the darkness that stretched behind her.

_Kouichi._

Raimei reached out to him desperately, but just as quickly as he had appeared, he dissolved once again becoming one with the darkness.

Raimei's hand remained outstretched in midair. Her body began to shake violently, remembering what had transpired between them.

He was gone. He was gone and he was never coming back.

* * *

Thobari was running frantically, carrying Raimei's lifeless body in his arms as he made his way to the nearest hospital. A sound escaped her throat, and Thobari glanced down at the injured girl just in time to see a single tear trickle down the side of her cheek.

* * *

The first rays of morning sunlight danced radiantly across Raimei's gentle face and came to rest there peacefully. The comforting warmth that drifted in from the window beside Raimei's bed was soothing and she felt her eyes opening in response to the foreign sensation. She groggily blinked away the sleepiness from her comatose state and slowly began to take in the setting that lay before her.

The room was somewhat familiar in a way, plainly adorned with white washed walls and equally matching tapestry. A single lonely chair sat in the far corner of the room at the end of her bed. There was an old television set fastened securely to the top corner of the ceiling above the little chair, displaying some sort of sports event, though it was silent for the moment.

She turned her head to the left and saw a small table with a vase full of daisies sitting conspicuously in the middle. Beside it lay a mug that she supposed had once been filled with coffee not so long ago, for a faint smell still lingered in the air.

It hadn't taken long for her to realize that she was presently a guest at some hospital; the only thing she was concerned about was the means by which she had arrived here. Just as she had begun to try and decipher the haze from the previous day, she heard the door of her room creak open and a tall white male smelling strongly of smoke and expensive cologne walked through the door. He appeared to have a lot on his mind because he didn't notice the room's occupant watching him intently with a brilliant smile stretching nearly to her ears. Unable to stifle her joy a second longer, the blonde released a small chuckle, startling the older gentleman to her presence.

"Hello Sensei" she said brightly.

Thobari's initially embarrassed countenance melted into a grateful smile as he surveyed his pupil with obvious relief.

"You're awake" he replied simply.

"Seems that way huh" Raimei laughed teasingly.

Thobari was about to protest to her sarcasm when there was a knock on the open door. Raimei and Thobari both turned simultaneously to find Miharu standing slightly bewildered in the door frame. The school teacher silently ushered him inside with a slight nod and Raimei watched happily as he sauntered into their midst. The small boy's face betrayed a slight grimace of worry as his eyes met with his friends.

"How are you doing?" he asked straight out.

"I suppose I'm alright" she answered honestly. "I'm not quite sure what's going on but I think I might still be a little fuzzy from the painkillers I bet they're giving me." She'd had plenty before to realize their effects on her body. They always gave her one swell headache.

She tried to sit up so she could be eye level with her company, but when she got about half way, a searing pain ignited in her right side.

"Gah!" she seethed hugging her hand to the point where the pain had originated. She exhaled angrily and swore under her breath. "Man that hurts," she said still clutching her side.

"You had to have quite a few stitches," Thobari informed her. "Your side was cut up pretty bad, nothing life threatening though. You just lost a little bit of blood."

Raimei looked at him incredulously, a confused expression etching its way across her face. Her gaze drifted again to her side where her hand was still covering her wound.

Suddenly she froze, the blood in her veins virtually coming to a complete standstill. A slideshow of memories and images began to race wildly through her brain in no particular order. She saw her broken katana, Kouichi yelling stop, and then a sharp pain in her knees as she fell to the concrete.

As she lay in the bed her hand unconsciously reached to her knees. They were lightly bandaged. Her heart began to race and she could barely control her breathing.

More images flashed hap hazardously in her head; her clenched fists, Kouichi looking at her sadly, his hand on her face. Raimei bit her lip, not wanting to fall apart right now in front of Miharu and Thobari Sensei. She felt like screaming as she remembered his words, her arms around his neck, the smell of his skin so close to her own.

Raimei's left arm hugged her presently shaking body and her right hand balled up a portion of the white sheets that draped her hospital bed. The tears silently ran down both sides of her face, falling like tiny rain drops into her lap. The two males standing before her watched helplessly as their main girl quietly crumbled before them. Neither of them uttered a word because neither of them had the slightest inclination as to what had just transpired. Raimei's exhausted body slumped to the side and her head drooped weakly as though it were barely attached to her neck.

"Kouichi", she whispered, his name alone explaining everything that was taking place inside of her. Thobari threw Miharu a questioning glance but Miharu simply faced forward towards Raimei. He didn't know what was going on either.

Though Thobari didn't want to pry, he needed to know what had happened to his team. There were a lot of loose ends that needed to be tied up, and so far, no one had been able to supply him with an adequate answer pertaining to the madness that had taken place the previous night.

Deciding there was no way around it, he took the plunge.

"Raimei," he spoke carefully, "where is Aizawa?"

The question seemed to have fallen on deaf ears for there was no reaction elicited from the injured girl. In fact, she hadn't stirred in the slightest at the mention of Kouichi's name. It was a bit unsettling.

Not knowing what to do exactly, Thobari clumsily carried on.

"Ah, I need to ask him about this new Kira user." Thobari was stumbling somewhat on his words. "This is the first time we've encountered him and I need to collect all the information I can about him so we can figure out what his angle is."

Raimei stared off into space like an empty shell with no soul. The depiction startled her Sensei who had never seen the bubbling blonde look so depressed before. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and leaned his weight onto the retractable railing that was meant to keep patients from falling out of bed. His face was etched with concern as he looked at the hollow being that sat before him.

"Raimei?" he asked in a worried tone.

"He's gone" she stated abruptly. Her eyes were absent of life and she continued to stare absentmindedly into space. The resoluteness of the way in which she uttered those two small words was surprising to Thobari.

"He's not coming back" she continued simply. She hadn't made a single sound and yet the tears were still streaming down her face unceasingly. It was as though her soul was tired of crying and yet her body did it regardless of what her soul wanted.

Thobari Sensei exhaled wearily and shook his head in disbelief at the unfolding of current events. He hated that these kids had gotten mixed up in the transgressions of greedy adults who were the ones at fault for the current state of the world. All of his pupils had endured the hardships of loss at an early age, and it seemed that the cycle was never going to stop, especially in Raimei's case.

Thobari raised his head once more to examine her thoroughly. His heart fell apart in an instant however, imagining the hard road that awaited her sooner than she knew.

She was always one to wear her heart on her sleeve and speak her mind, but right now, she was unusually introverted. It was as though the feeling of loss had developed into a black hole that now resided in the middle of her chest. She was letting it all consume her, which troubled Thobari greatly. And yet, he knew there was absolutely nothing that he could do. Whatever had corresponded between Raimei and Aizawa was something that they alone had the power to alter between each other. Everyone else would have to take a back seat and hope that they could manage. But Thobari had to admit, whatever had happened, it was destroying Raimei.

With an exhausted sigh he let go of the railing and stepped backwards. It wouldn't be right to pummel her with endless questions in her current state. His investigation would have to wait a little while until she would be able to handle it all.

Thobari slid his hands back into his pockets and casually leaned against the wall behind him. He slipped his perfected "everything's going to be alright" smile into position and closed his eyes as he spoke.

"You should rest Raimei."

The once motionless blonde suddenly lifted her gaze to meet his as if he'd just said something completely ridiculous.

Thobari conceded. "We obviously don't have any leads, and until we do, you might as well get comfortable." His tone was steady and indifferent. Though he could be a nutcase at times, he knew how to diffuse a situation when needed.

Raimei simply looked down at her hands in her lap and nodded solemnly. She couldn't do much else for the time being. Everything was still so fresh. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to sleep away the next few days, or weeks, it really didn't matter how long. She was beginning to feel already that she was lost in a sense of vertigo, falling unceasingly between reality and sleep. She was suspended in an abyss that was neither here nor there.

Watching as Raimei resumed her ghost like state, Thobari caught Miharu's eye and motioned for him to follow. The light clack of his shoes echoed on the floor as he led the way to the open door. Miharu silently strolled behind him, his expression unreadable.

Thobari nodded for Miharu to go on ahead and waited with one hand on the door knob as Miharu passed out of the frame without a word or glance at his Sensai. Thoabri's eyes lingered on his back briefly, and then they returned their focus to the far end of the room where Raimei sat.

"If you need anything just let one of us know."

He rotated his body towards the hallway and was about to close the door when his conscience got the better of him. He gritted his teeth knowing he should say something to her about the _whole_ situation, but seeing her so broken like this, he just didn't possess the strength. Instead, he decided he would offer her this much.

"Um, Raimei?" he said awkwardly. Her eyes slowly returned his stare questioningly.

"Gau is here in the hospital as well," he stated simply. "If you find the strength to, you should go visit him soon."

Raimei's face clearly looked puzzled but she didn't ask for an explanation. For once, Thobari was overwhelming grateful for her discretion. He didn't want to be the one to have to break the news to her. He just couldn't do it.

He sighed to himself. Besides, it would be better for her if Gau was the one to tell her. If anyone could share in her inevitable pain, it was him and him alone. Thobari just hoped this wouldn't damage their spirits to the point in which they couldn't recover.

Thobari closed the door behind him and let out yet another sigh. He stood there quietly for a moment, mulling over the severity of it all within his own private thoughts. Meeting frustratingly with a brick wall however, he lifted his head and took a step down the hallway, only to be stopped abruptly by Miharu.

Thobari knew right away that something was up for the slender boy had an obvious look of disapproval on his face. He stood awkwardly, his right hand clenched into a fist at his side. The usually apathetic teenager was displaying a lot of emotions lately, the majority of which amounted to suppressed anger finally being unleashed. Thobari didn't mind really, he just wished there was a way that they could somehow rebuild the trust that had once bound them together so many years ago. It was a trying task to be the sole bearer of the truth behind the past. It got lonely, and it was even more unbearable when the one person you wanted to share your pain with was the person who resented your existence the most. But the secrecy was for Miharu's own good, and Thobari would remind himself of that each time Miharu looked at him like he was looking at him now.

"Did you want to discuss something with me?" Thobari asked eyeing the boy sternly. Miharu returned the stare with equal intensity.

"Why didn't you tell her? She has the right to know."

Thobari took a deep breath, choosing his words carefully.

"I didn't tell her because it wasn't my place."

Miharu's glare never wavered. "Wasn't your place?" he seethed coldly.

"At this point, I think telling her would only throw her overboard. There's only so much that people can handle Miharu, and losing someone as dear to her as Kouichi is already enough to put her on the edge."

Miharu scoffed. "You think he's really gone?"

Thobari thought for a minute. "Yes."

Miharu's brow furrowed slightly, not expecting such a direct reply.

Thobari crossed his arms. "Something has been going on beneath the surface that we haven't discovered yet. Aizawa and that _girl_ are pretty clever when it comes to divulging useful information. They've probably known about everything for quite some time and have just feigned ignorance." Thobari transported his weight to one leg and looked his pupil directly in the eye. "But in Aizawa's case, I don't believe that's why he left."

If Miharu was surprised he hid it well. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," said Thobari, "that I think he left for reasons outside of obtaining the Shinrabanshou."

The statement had clearly peeked Miharu's interest. He turned his head and stared absently at the wall.

"What reason would he have to leave?"

Thobari chuckled slyly. "If you had someone you held dear, would you not sacrifice your own happiness for the potential happiness of that person?"

Miharu's expression suddenly looked slightly perplexed and taken aback by the question. He stared incredulously at the concrete floor that comprised the hallway, lost in thought.

Thobari laughed quietly and ran his left hand through his dark hair. Someone as young as Miharu would have yet to comprehend the complexities of love. Kouichi though, at least from what he could gather, had some idea. Vanishing into thin air just like that took a lot of guts. Thobari envisioned the white haired boy on some random bus leaving the city in a cloud of dust as they spoke. The decision couldn't have been easy for him.

Concluding that there was nothing further to discuss, Thobari continued his previous venture down the hallway. As he past the small adolescent, he said nothing, feeling as though Miharu needed some space to sort out the details of their conversation. He had a strange feeling that Kouichi wasn't the only one who had been faced with a difficult dilemma as of late.

When he finally arrived at the double doors near the end of the hallway, he reached into the pocket of his suit, his hand colliding with the cool metal of his lighter. The contact instantly evoked a sense of peace throughout his entire body.

He pulled the small cube out of its confines and skillfully flipped open the lid. He reached into his other pocket and withdrew his usual brand of cigarettes, selecting the last remaining stick that protruded out of the plastic. Placing the object directly between his lips, he brought the small burning flame of the lighter up to meet with the end. As the two ignited together, Thobari inhaled deeply, relishing the relief that swept swiftly though his veins.

He raised his head and stared indifferently at the blue sky that hovered above. A patch of grey clouds in the distance caught his eye, signaling that a storm was accumulating not too far away.

Thobari brought the cigarette to his lips once again and exhaled a large cloud of smoke.

"I really need to stop smoking."


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Far away in an undisclosed location, the small cellular phone that lay dormant in Shijima's dress pocket began to vibrate with a subtle urgency. Reluctantly pulling her gaze away from the passing scenery that flickered through the train window, she released a sigh of annoyance and withdrew the device from the bottom of the cloth. Turning it over to see who it was that had disrupted her daydreaming, a sly smile stretched across her face upon reading the name blinking on the small screen. Lazily flipping open her phone while situating her body to a more comfortable position, her cold voice purred teasingly into the receiver.

"I wasn't expecting you to call so soon."

Kouichi restrained his immediate agitation as he disregarded her comment.

"Where are you?"

Shijima sighed dramatically and held out her hand to dully examine her long fingers.

"I got tired of waiting on you so I decided to take a minor detour."

Her clever evasion to his inquiry suggested to him that she had no intention of answering his question directly. He sighed in resignation, deciding to cut straight to the reason behind his call.

"I think we should split up for a while." He paused to allow her to react to his sudden declaration. Shijima remained quiet for a moment and then began to chuckle.

"Are you planning to do some soul searching bird?"

"Something like that." he replied simply.

Shijima smiled cynically on her end. "Does it have anything to do with that girl?"

Kouichi didn't reply, allowing the silence that ensued to speak on his behalf. Shijima cackled once more.

"I just need to get away," he replied defensively, "maybe pick up some loose ends that we've left lay. No particular meaning behind it all."

Shijima decided that this was too much of an opportune moment to just let pass without some toying on her part. She wanted to see just how far she could push him on this particular subject.

"Are you sure this is the best conclusion for your little gem? Won't abandoning her only make her suffering even more unbearable?"

She knew she had struck a nerve. She could picture him pursing his lips and narrowing his raptor like eyes into aggravated slits on the other end of the line.

"The wound from my absence will heal over time. Before too long, I won't even be recalled to her memory." he said matter of fact.

Shijima crossed her legs and leaned back gracefully in her seat.

"If you say so bird, although…" she realized that she was being cruel but she couldn't stop herself, "if I cared about someone, I wouldn't leave them on the very eve of their brother's demise."

Kouichi's blood ran instantly cold at the implication behind her words. He suddenly saw nothing but red in front of him, and a murderous impulse crept slowly up his spine.

Swallowing his demon-like impulse into submission, his voice seethed icily into the phone, but he flawlessly maintained his composure.

"What did you do?"

Shijima grinned as he took the bait.

"Really, all I did was defend mysel-"

"WHAT… did you do?" he asked fiercely. Kouichi's voice was laced with impatience. This game was no longer humorous by any means.

Shijima sighed wearily. "He was trying to kill me," she reasoned. "I, in turn, just ended up being the one to do the killing."

She paused momentarily, reliving the scene in her mind. "I have to admit though, he was the first person I've ever killed that I respect for their unwillingness to recognize when they've been defeated." She stopped once more, an unusual feeling of something akin to sadness settling in her chest.

"He just didn't know when to give up," she finished.

Kouichi's self control had reached its limit, and he had an incurable longing to rip his cohort to pieces. His breathing grew irregular, and all he could think about was running as fast as he could to Raimie's side and shielding her from the knowledge of what she had lost. He began to calculate the quickest means by which to reach her. Driving maybe? No, flying would definitely be best.

Amidst the panic however, his mind suddenly went blank, and he realized that it was futile. He couldn't go back, it would only make matters worse. She would cling to him with every last ounce of her being, and though deep down that may have been what he desired, comfort from a monster like him was the last thing she needed.

His head hung helplessly, reliving again just how difficult it was being away from her. Even though it had only been a day, he already hated the feeling of remaining stationary. It gave him too much time to think.

Shijima's voice rang on the other line and he realized that he had been silent for quite a while.

"Are you still there?" she asked inquiringly.

"Yeah…yeah I'm still here."

"Are we ok?" she prodded with an endearing tone.

Kouchi sighed in frustration.

Although it infuriated him that she was the origin for a vast amount of pain pertaining to Raimei, he couldn't bring himself to hate her. She was the same as him, and he knew all too well what it was like when their unique bloodlust took hold in the heat of battle. After all, how many brothers had he personally killed in his life, and how many times had he relished the feeling while doing it? He was in no position to pass judgment on anyone, no matter how much he wanted to.

"Yeah." he whispered simply. "We're ok. Although…" he added, "I would stay away from me for a while. I can't guarantee how I will react if I were to see you anytime in the near future."

Shijima smiled. "I understand."

Kouichi nodded his head though he knew the gesture couldn't be seen by the girl at the other end of the conversation. He was about to hang up when her voice interrupted once more.

"Say bird," she said halfheartedly, "why is it that we've never just had it out with one another and seen if that could end it for us?"

Kouichi suppressed a smile at the thought.

"Probably because we still wouldn't die, and then it would just turn into a contest between the two of us."

He listened to the petite woman's laugh as it sifted in through the receiver. "Don't get killed while you're away."

"I won't." he promised.

* * *

And with that, Kouichi clamped the phone shut and raised his head to take in the scene around him. He was standing in the middle of a noisy subway station, trying to decipher which departure would take him the farthest away from here. There were a couple of prospects that had intrigued him, but after his conversation with the cat, he began to get cold feet. His mind was suddenly heavy with thoughts of the girl he had left behind in the neighboring city. His heart sank as he imagined what she must be doing right now.

_Had anyone told her yet?_ He couldn't help wondering.

Kouchi found himself gazing restlessly through the walls of the emporium that enclosed the bustle of the subway. Because of his bird like instincts, he knew precisely which direction "home" lay, and he was all too tempted to take off dashing towards its borders. But for reasons he couldn't comprehend, his feet remained glued to the cold concrete, neither leaving nor returning.

He stared at the same point for what seemed like hours, and though to the outside world he looked as if he were standing still, his body was chaotically jerking itself forward three steps then back three, over, and over again. Thoroughly irritated with himself, he growled in frustration and raked both of his hands roughly through his white hair.

It wasn't like him to be this anxious.

He sighed heavily, gritting his teeth in disgust at his overwhelming indecisiveness.

_You have no right to see her_, he told himself. _She's better off not being involved with you._

However, though he knew this to be the irrefutable truth, something inside him still wanted to fight it. Despite everything he was, despite all the suffering he was capable of causing her, he still hopelessly felt that he could give her happiness.

He shook his head with a masochistic chuckle, wondering at what point he had become so weak. Trivial instances like this barely even merited his warrant in the past. Though he had accumulated relationships with various people before, when it came time to let go, he had never looked back.

So why was he looking back now?

A vision of a slender girl standing with battered knees and a katana positioned coolly over her shoulder inserted itself into his conscious. Her large almond eyes examined him with a passionately burning flame, their warmth reaching out like a beckoning call. The smile she wore was strikingly reassuring, and so undeniably real that it made you want to place all your fears into her hands.

She was humorously clumsy, emotionally careless, and annoyingly stubborn.

In other words, she was perfect. He didn't have to see the future to know that he would never again find someone like her. She was it.

And he had given her up so easily.

Kouichi could feel the blood about to flow from the nails that were digging into his clenched palm. His restraint had long reached its limit. His inner beast was growling its desire to let loose and run to her side. His will was steadily growing infinitely weaker by the second.

He felt his right foot steadily take a small stride forward, then like clockwork, his left foot began to follow in suit. Before he had the chance to realize what was happening, he was running as fast as he could back in the direction from whist he came.

His feet pounded the cold concrete as he dashed madly through the throngs of people waiting to board. He didn't bother to avoid the clueless bystanders, crashing into one right after another, his mind only focused on one thing.

His heart was pounding furiously as he passed through the gates that led him outside. He sped raggedly to the nearest alley, not looking to see if there were any witnesses as he felt his body melt away to its true form. His arms suddenly felt infinitely lighter, his vision became almost god-like, and his beautiful down feathers began to cover the areas where skin had once resided. Effortlessly he climbed through the air, breathing in the atmosphere that had been created specifically for the guardians of the skies.

As he looked towards the horizon, he saw the dark, ominous clouds stretching like a threatening blanket of malice atop the city in which he was headed. He could tell in his bones that it would eventually be one frighteningly powerful thunder storm in a few short hours.

The sight made him feel uneasy for some unforeseen reason. Storms always had a way of construing his emotions, though the cause of this continuously escaped him. He didn't know whether to blame his animal instincts or his human ones. But, whatever side the allegiance lay, as he flew into the falling night, he couldn't shake the eminent sense of doom that kept growing stronger the closer he drew to his destination.


	8. Chapter 8

I am so sorry that it took so long to get this chapter updated. I was just so particular about how I wanted everything to come out that I ended up prolonging my initial deadline. The emotions that I'm attempting to portray throughout this chapter were kind of tough so I hope that the result is to all of your liking. But have no fear; the chapters following this one are pretty much completed so you shouldn't have to wait long for the next update!

Chapter 8

The shattering whip of a shard of lightening flashed menacingly outside of Raimei's bedside window, quickly followed by the blood curdling scream of vacant thunder. The two phenomenon's combined rage traversed through the night sky and forcefully awakened her body from its previously peaceful slumber. She immediately sat straight up in her bed, each one of her mastered senses automatically attuned to the condition of her current surroundings. Her heart was running ramped, her muscles tensed in anticipation of an oncoming threat. The warm brown of her irises shimmered with a flicker of malice as she scanned the dark corners of the unfamiliar room, challenging her invisible opponent to reveal their whereabouts.

After completing an adequate search on all the surfaces of her foreseeable atmosphere, she felt her adrenaline rush begin to subside as she relinquished her withheld breath, thankful that the battle had only been in her mind.

She glanced around at her environment once more, this time merely with a feeling of curiosity. For a brief moment, she was confused to behold the common white washed walls and blatant lack of effort towards giving the place any character, and then, the events from the preceding hours came back to her recollection.

She was injured.

She was in a hospital.

Miharu and Thobari Sensei were here as well. The other details weren't necessary.

Her focus returned to the window beside her, and then beyond its glass frame to the outside world that it protected her from. A wave of nostalgia encompassed her as she watched the lonely sky shed its tears of frustration at the current state of the world beneath.

Raimei sat quietly underneath the thin sheets, paralyzed with awe at the dreadful beauty that was the rain. The silent blonde couldn't help but feel that she and the storm were one as she peered into its mysterious depths. Both entities were lovely to behold, and yet both possessed a subtle brokenness that simultaneously added to their unique allure. However, as she sat motionless in its vast shadow, she couldn't help but be entangled in a ravenous overturning of jealousy as she watched the tiny droplets trickle one by one down the glass panel.

It unnerved her how the sky could cry so freely, unrestrained, able to obtain true beauty once its last tear had been shed. For Raimei, the only thing her tears had ever seemed to accomplish was to slowly drain the vitality out of her until she was completely devoid of any attribute that could be associated with living. She was broken, a paper mache doll that only seemed to deteriorate with each step she took. She gazed down at the skin on her arm in the pale moonlight, half expecting it to flake off into the air like smoldering ash.

She wondered how much longer she could continue to live like this.

No. That wasn't the right word.

_Exist_ like this.

She tore her eyes away from the majestic scene outside, realizing that her mind couldn't take much more of this reasoning without throwing her completely into nothingness. Her stomach felt uncomfortably empty as she struggled to remember the last time she had eaten. She chuckled, finding some food would probably be a good start towards getting her mind off of things, if only for a little while.

She threw the sheets off of her legs, welcoming the coolness of the night's breath to stretch across her skin. The sensation was exhilarating, almost foreign to a body accustomed to feeling nothing but numbing pain. The chill that the darkness evoked sent shivers down Raimei's back, a reminder that she was indeed alive.

Her feet slipped gracefully onto the linoleum floor and she walked to the closed door that lay a few yards to her left. She turned the knob softly and pulled it towards her chest, hoping that it wasn't one of those erections that made a deafening creak when opened completely. It wasn't.

As she strolled into the dimly lit hallway, she gazed around for signs of life but found no one present for the time being. She sighed, wishing that she knew what time it was. It must have been rather late though for things to be this quiet.

She ventured further down the end of the hall, searching for something that could direct her towards the cafeteria, but she found nothing. She folded her lengthy arms atop her head and sighed in agitation when something absently caught her eye.

A seemingly inconspicuous glow descended softly from a room in the far corner at the end of the hallway, causing her to briefly abandon her exploration. Its presence was so slight that she could have easily passed by it undaunted, but once she had noticed it, it seemed to be silently beckoning to her.

Although Raimei's stomach lurched with hunger, the draw of the small light resigned to be too great and her curiosity led her aimlessly towards the unknown.

With each step that breached the gap between her and her newfound destination, she felt her heart quicken in anticipation and anxiety. The latter emotion however soon became the more prominent, for the closer she drew, the more chilling the air seemed to grow, like an instinctual warning that surged beneath her skin.

For reasons she could not explain, Raimei was becoming increasingly hesitant to discover as to what lay inside the mysterious pool of light. She could all but ignore the small voice in her head that was relaying to her that something just was not right, and her steps faltered. Swallowing her fear however, she stubbornly crossed the remaining distance and rounded the corner of the open door's frame, only to be instantly frozen where she stood.

To anyone else, the unkempt mop of brown hair that adorned the head of the room's only occupant wouldn't have been a cause for alarm, but to Raimei, the instant recognition of her comrade stole the very breath from her lungs.

"Gau…" she whispered, her heart immediately plummeting to her feet.

No longer hesitant, she hurriedly entered the room, her protective instincts completely taking the forefront amongst her hazardous emotions. As she drew nearer, she stepped shakily around the perimeter of his bed, her eyes fixated on the obvious ruin that had been brought upon his body.

He was lying awkwardly on his back, his face deathly pale and lined with a cold sweat that glistened like an eerie dew. The visible sections of skin on his arms and neck were sporadically discolored by violet bruises along with various other cuts and abrasions. The lower half of his body, which was concealed by the standard hospital sheet, appeared to be alright considering; however, the left portion of Gau's signature adolescent face was horridly bandaged, the sight casting an entirely unnerving disposition to the small quarters.

Raimei felt her breath constrict within her chest, the air around her suddenly becoming too heavy to consume. She drew hesitantly to his bedside, her hands trembling as she unconsciously reached out to touch him. A shudder ran throughout her body and she retracted, instead encircling herself in an embrace as she began to shake uncontrollably. She dropped to her knees out of sheer desperation, her thin body unable to stand upright. Her head hung feebly and she surveyed her dear friend with serene eyes that no longer possessed the strength to even cry for him.

It was a wretched feeling.

She fumbled nervously with her hands as they lay in her lap, her mind miles away, wondering how this could have happened to him. She swallowed back the lump that had formed in the pit of her throat as she looked down at her own minor injuries with obvious guilt. Though she had held nothing back during their encounter, Kouichi had skillfully restrained himself, purposefully inflicting wounds only to keep her from damaging herself more.

Raimei chuckled now at the realization. _Kouichi you fool._

Upon accidentally stumbling onto the very subject that Raimei had promised to avoid, her emotions immediately spurted into a frenzy. Against her better judgment, she allowed her mind to linger on the thought of his name and all the suppressed feelings that came with it. She tasted it, her tongue remembering the feel it made over every syllable, its sound resting on the very edge of her lips until she couldn't hold it back anymore.

"_Kouichi…"_ she breathed almost inaudibly into the atmosphere. As she gave life to the word, she felt as though her very soul was being ripped from her body, all because of the boy whose face belonged with that name.

It pained her to think that, even if she screamed his name a thousand times over, there would be no reply.

Just then the sound of rustling sheets startled her and she peered above to see Gau slowly awakening from his sleep. He muttered indecipherably for a few brief seconds before prying his eyes open and grumpily greeting the evening.

Raimei skillfully slipped a warm smile in place of the troubled one that had previously resided there as her eyes settled upon his. Gau's expression was clearly confused by the apparition before him but his lips weakly formed her name and she thought she would shatter once more.

"Hello you" she spoke softly. Small liquid pools instantly sprang fourth from the corners of his broken face, trailing lonely rivers down to his trembling chin. Raimei reached out and grabbed his bandaged hand, taking subtle joy in the warmth they possessed.

For a brief moment, they sat in silence, neither one of them needing to add anything to the unspoken understanding that transpired between them. There were simply no words to convey the relief of being able to physically confirm the safety of a loved one.

After they had both indulged a period of quiet contentment, Raimei spoke first.

"Gau…wh- …what happened", she nearly choked on the simple words, but she knew she had to be the strong one in this difficult situation. They had been through so much together; however, it didn't lessen the blow that became pitted at the bottom of her stomach from seeing such painful physical scarring.

Gau gazed back at her thoughtfully, his mind obviously reeling with the uncertainty of where to begin, but there was something else there, something that seemed amiss, as though the very light from his eyes had vanished and a hallowing darkness remained. Raimei felt her grip weaken momentarily as she became caught off guard by the unsettling observation, but she didn't let go. Something had drawn her to him in this room; something needed her to be here with him.

She watched cautiously as Gau swallowed the lump that had settled in his throat, as he did so, he turned his head away from Raimei and faced the opposing wall, an act that made Raimei even more reluctant to remain where she was. Every fiber within her had been pleading with her even before she had stepped into this room to flee; _run as far away as you can_, her instincts seemed to scream. And yet, something was holding her here, a phenomenon that she couldn't begin to describe for it was simply too bizarre. But she heeded it, understanding somewhere deep within her being that this was necessary.

She felt herself swallowing harshly as well, mirroring Gau's uncomfortable gesture, though what had lay lodged in her throat she did not know.

Just as she was about to request an explanation once more, her ears perked at attention as Gau's soft voice filled the eerie displacement that had settled into the room's atmosphere. The words slipped off his tongue unsteadily at first, but as he continued, the events that had led them to their current predicament unfolded more swiftly.

"…after you and that guy ran off, that cat girl cornered me and Raikou" he began "she seemed angry, like she wanted to toy with us." He paused to gather his strength, then continued. "She and Raikou seemed like they had been fighting one another for hours". He swallowed and Raimei watched as his eyes grew steadily distant as he then relayed to her what happened next.

"But somehow during the fight, I can't remember how… she got a hold of his katana…" he stopped there briefly, and his mind seemed to drift upon recalling the information. It was as though he was literally confused as to how the events had unfolded, despite the fact that he had been right there to witness it all.

Then to Raimei's amazement, Gau's face contorted into a wretched state and the tears began to flow heavily once more. He began crying out before Raimei had the chance to grasp the situation.

"I couldn't stop her Raimei, I couldn't do anything!" he cried painfully. "I just stood there and watched…"

Raimei's heart suddenly clenched within her chest, and before she could stop herself from asking, the words seemed to tumble out of her mouth.

"Gau…" she whispered apprehensively "where's Raikou?"

Gau lifted his head, and for the first time throughout their entire conversation, he looked Raimei straight in the eye. He owed her that much.

"…Raimei " he choked, "h-…he…didn't… make it."

The words fell between them like a sharpened guillotine, and Raimei simply sat, frozen.

At first, her mind seemed unable to link the meaning of the words together; _He didn't…who didn't… make what?_ She remained unnervingly still and gazed emotionless into Gau's pained expression, the farthest reaches of her mind wondering why he was looking at her with such uncontrolled remorse.

And then, like a car crash in the middle of a busy intersection, the meaning of his words made contact.

Raimei felt her legs slowly stand then watched as they carefully guided her to the door. She had no idea where they were taking her, she just simply followed. She passed by numerous rooms without knowing it, every physical structure that had once been so defined melting away into abstraction. She felt the four surfaces that enclosed her growing smaller and smaller until she was suffocating. Bile arose in her mouth and she was instantly sick. She attempted to settle her breathing, but the more she tried, the more erratic it seemed to be.

Finally, her legs gave way beneath her and she clung to the adjacent wall as though her very life depended on its solidity. She strived to pull herself upright again, but to no avail. She screamed at her feet to move, to slide, anything to carry her forward. But her body had just simply stopped, leaving her with no escape.

Raimei tried to avert her focus to anything she could, she thought about the pattern of the floor, the ticking of the clock, the drumming of the rain.

And then… she thought about his silly pink hair.

All of her perfectly erected defenses crumbled in an instant and the pain that she had hoped to keep at bay fiercely overwhelmed her. She clenched her stomach and screamed her anguish to the farthest corners of the hospital, her howls sending shivers to all its inhabitants.

Her hand slid along the wall as she fell to her knees in the vacant hallway. She felt her body attempt to wretch over and over again as the tears poured forth from her tired eyes. Her entire body was bursting with convulsionafter convulsion, trying to rid itself of the pain that was coursing through her like poison.

It was impossible. No normal human body was able to contain the amount of suffering that hers had in the short time that she had been alive on this earth. It just wasn't possible to bear all the hurt. Bodies simply weren't created for that. It ate away at them until they had nothing left but to die and end the torment.

Oh how death looked so sweet to her right now. She was tired of living, and she was rapidly losing all the things she had come to live for.

_There's nothing left, _she thought absently to herself.

_Absolutely nothing. _

The thought was kind of comforting in a twisted sort of way. She no longer had to try so hard at this living thing. She could just disappear…

Suddenly, through the dark recesses of her mind, she heard the slight sound of footsteps retreating away from her within the darkened corridor. Despite her overwhelming grief, her senses snapped to attention, realizing that someone else was there.

Her breath caught in her chest and she scoured the shadows in an attempt to catch even the slightest hint of movement. She felt the dampness from her tears clinging to her cheeks as spurts of cool air escaped through the vents.

Someone had been watching her.

She shouldn't have cared, nor would she have, if the ensuing silent, death-like presence hadn't been so familiar to her. Adrenaline pulsed through her veins, and as she grappled forward along the floor, only one word escaped her mouth.

"Kouichi…" she breathed.

She listened intently as the sound of footsteps ceased altogether, and as they did, she felt as if her heart would leap out of her chest. Her eyes frantically scanned the dark corridor, searching for some recognizable outline of the boy she knew so well. She could sense his unmistakable presence, he was lying there in the shadows she just knew it. She could almost smell his unique scent wafting through the slight draft of the hallway; almost hear his steady breathing amidst the silences between the raging shouts of thunder.

"Kouichi?" she repeated hysterically, the vibrations from her voice echoing off the walls in recession. She was not going to give up. She would not accept that he was not right there.

"Please… please don't disappear" she begged, and as she did, her eyes continued to scan the darkness before her, willing him to show himself. She wanted him to step forward from beneath the shadows, offer her that awkward smile of his, then wrap his arms around her body and tell her that everything would be ok. She wanted to hear those familiar words promising her that, no matter what it was, they would get through it.

But there was no reply. No sound, no movement, no evidence attesting to the presence of the white haired boy that Raimei had been so convinced was there only moments before.

She wearily lifted her head and directly faced the darkness before her, her chestnut colored irises glistening with the most dreadful tears.

"I need you…"

But the whispered plea was left unheard, and the desolate blonde laid her outstretched body against the cold of the concrete floor and cried without restraint like the sky outside.

* * *

Kouichi trampled down the dark hallway, barely even noticing his surroundings. All that could be seen through his raptor like eyes was the wild fury that had been created by his rage. He felt like screaming and filling every empty space in the building with the echoes of his growing madness. He lashed out against the wall that enclosed him on his right side, crumbling a rather large segment of it as he did.

But it wasn't enough. Nothing would ever be.

_Raimei…_

He stopped abruptly at the exit, his breathing erratic and heavy. He was no longer able to discern where Kouichi the boy ended from where Kouichi the beast began. They were currently flowing in incomprehensible unison with one another, a feat that should not have been attainable, should not have been allowed.

And yet, here he stood, a ravenous demon residing comfortably in a boy's body.

The ultimate abomination.

Kouichi could sense his mental will power struggling to maintain control of the human part of him, but the pain he was suffering was just too much of an impediment to override the situation.

_Just surrender to it,_ he heard a velvet voice stealthily whisper. _Just give into your rage._

"No…" Kouichi fought back weakly. "I can't… allow this…"

But the voice was appealing in its coercion.

_You don't want to feel it do you? The pain, the intolerable torment that's ripping apart your heart, it can all go away. _

Kouichi was breathing wildly. "Stop it" he commanded "… leave me alone!"

_Laughter, sickening laughter._

Kouichi stumbled through the door and into the night, clutching his chest frantically as though at any moment his heart would explode. The rain had not let up and it pounded incessantly upon his skin, drenching him to the point where nothing remained dry in a matter of seconds. He stood motionless, unfazed by the swelling of the storm's anger. He felt nothing, nothing of his existence, nothing of his past, nothing of himself.

He raised his left hand closer to his face and watched emptily as rain drops pelted one after another onto his fingers.

_Why couldn't he feel that?_

He lowered his arm and stared vacantly at the puddles forming rapidly on the ground in which he stood.

_It had been a mistake. He shouldn't have come back. _

He clenched his fists and bit his lip so forcefully that he soon tasted the sweet sensation of iron. He closed his eyes in a futile attempt to rid himself of the picture that was now etched so deeply into his conscious.

The sight of her right then, so utterly shattered, was a vision that would never be erased from his memory.

_And he had caused that insurmountable suffering…_

He gasped recklessly, drawing nearer and nearer to the point of a breakdown. His skull began to seethe as though it were undergoing a literal splitting. He screamed out in agony, grasping the sides of his head to keep from passing out.

"I CAN"T DO THIS!" he yelled desperately. "I CAN'T HANDLE IT!"

Her angelic face crossed over and over again in his mind, her tears and her sorrow, her unspoken plea for him to fix it all as she looked helplessly into his eyes.

Kouichi hollered in anguish, the evidence of the torture he was undergoing sending a gripping chill into the desolate atmosphere.

"Make it go away," he chanted, "just make it go away."

His knees clashed with the harsh concrete as he continued to moan and writhe.

…_just make it go away…_

He listened as a teasing chuckle in the back of his mind was released. And then he heard those chilling three words.

_As you wish… _

Suddenly, he felt something in him snap, and for a minute, everything around him turned into an indecipherable haze. His conscience seemed to lapse into a secret void, inaccessible even by the hands of time itself… as though his very existence had slipped out of being. Everything was quiet, sterile in the midst of this new darkness, an unsettling peace. Then, like a corpse that no longer cared to hold on to this life, Kouichi felt the remnants of his humanity begin to recede into the farthest corners of his soul, disappearing almost entirely.

He gasped as a cool rush of adrenaline surged eagerly through his veins, clawing its way to his fingers and toes with a hunger that could not be sedated. The icy venom flowed menacingly into the crevices where warm blood once resided. His mind became an empty slate as instinct took over completely. Every sense he owned heightened themselves to their maximum peak, and as the transformation neared its completion, Kouichi felt his body buckle over in exhaustion. A wave of subtle tremors raked over his pale skin like an afterthought, and then, all was quiet.

For a few agonizing seconds no sound or movement was elicited from his body, and then, the subtle intake and expulsion of breath began to whisper into the fading night. As the oxygen was carried to the farthest reaches of his flesh, he felt the adjustments fall into place like the notches of an intricate lock.

As he straightened his body he felt his head roll lazily into place. His neck craned back to survey the blackened sky that hung overhead, a crooked smile that was not entirely his own spreading its way across his face as he watched the rain with disinterest.

He chuckled to himself, lowering his gaze back to the unsuspecting world that lay ahead.

And as he did so, his eyes were the unmistakable color of blood.

_This is what I am. _He thought to himself as he took his first step forward.

_This is what I will always be. _

* * *

I will not bow

I will not break

I will shut the world away.

I will not fall

I will not fade

I will take your breath away.

And I'll survive.

(B.B)


	9. Chapter 9

_Four years later…_

* * *

Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, beep, beep, …

Raimei groaned at the incessant noise emitting from the alarm clock that lay positioned on the nightstand sitting to the left of her bed. She turned over on her side in an attempt to dull the racket that refused to allow her to continue her pleasant dream, but she was met with no avail. She exhaled her frustration and buried her head beneath one of her rather large pillows in a final attempt to drown out the persistent drull of the electronic device.

Beep,beep , beep, beep, beep, beep, be-

"ALRIGHT!" she hollered as she swatted the insufferable nuisance with the pillow she had previously been using as a muffler. The clock flew off the table and landed awkwardly on the wooden floor of her bedroom. As a result, the sweet melody of silence soon ensued.

Raimei sighed in exhaustion and relief.

"Finally." She whispered as she fell back onto the comfort of her bed. She tried to will her body into a familiar slumber, but the task proved more difficult than she had anticipated. Her eyes sprung open in defeat as she yanked the covers off of her body and began to drag her feet over the side of the bed. Her slender toes met with the cold floor and she stretched her long arms above her head, reaching as far as she could towards the ceiling. Her arms collapsed clumsily into her lap and she began to scan the room with eyes that had not yet adjusted to morning light gracing its way into the atmosphere.

Out of habit, she turned to look at the old photograph that rested quietly on her small nightstand. The smiling face of her older brother Raikou peeked brilliantly through the simple glass frame. She smiled back at the picture, her heart swelling with a suppressed sadness.

"Morning Raikou." She said to the image playfully.

She didn't expect a reply, but it comforted her to keep him in her thoughts the moment she started her day. It had been four years since she had been given the news about the death of her brother, and though time had somewhat numbed the pain, it could never completely extract it.

Behind the small picture of Raikou sat a slightly bigger frame. Raimei unconsciously reached behind the first and picked up the photograph with a heavy heart. She gazed at the faces of the figures captured together in this single moment of time. A younger looking Miharu was in the center, wearing his signature apathetic expression. Thobari Sensei was casually smoking a cigarette while one of his hands rested protectively on Miharu's right shoulder. Raimei had her arms wrapped around Miharu's neck from behind, a smile of pure happiness on her face.

She felt herself swallow heavily as she moved her stare to the final figure resting inconspicuously in the back. A boy with snow white hair had his arm bent slightly behind his head as if he were scratching the nape of his neck. He seemed to be laughing somewhat awkwardly, as though he was unsure what to do for a picture. But despite this, he looked content to be in their midst.

The image made Raimei's heart wrench itself into a tight knot. She had looked at this picture nearly every day for the last four years, and yet her reaction never changed.

She sighed. She hadn't seen or heard from that white haired boy since that day. She had tried right after everything had occurred to get in contact with him, but his cell phone had already been neatly disconnected. It hadn't surprised her, she knew it was really over when she had listened to his footsteps walking away in the dark hallway of the hospital. He was never coming back.

So why was she still waiting?

Raimei's grip tightened on the frame as she swallowed down the anger and tears. Even after so much time had passed, she still hadn't let him go.

She pulled herself together and carefully placed the treasure back to its designated place. Just as she did, she heard Gau's voice echo from downstairs.

"Raimei! You need to start getting ready for school or you're going to be late again!" Raimei turned her head to the doorway and yelled back loudly.

"Alright, I'm up!"

She listened as Gau's footsteps receded back towards the kitchen. He knew he only needed to tell her once and she would get the picture. Raimei was grateful to have her brother's dear friend around to keep her in check. He was still just a kid but he was by far the most responsible person she knew.

When Raikou had been killed, both of them had been left with a monstrous void, so when things had settled down, they had agreed to purchase an apartment in town together. However, even though they lived under the same roof, their relationship had always been strictly sibling based, for both of them had loved and lost the same person. Gau spoke of her brother often, always with the same reverence. She knew he missed him just as much, if not more than she did. Raikou would have been happy to know that they were breaching the gap of his absence together. Life had been cruel to them both, so having the support made the weight of the world seem lighter, if only just a little.

Raimei finished putting her school uniform on and grabbed a comb from her dresser, proceeding to lightly brush her golden hair. She had forsaken her long locks a while back, now favoring a short bob with thick bangs that seemed more appropriate for her age. It was also a style that was much simpler to maintain as she was always on the go.

She stopped briefly in front of her oblong shaped mirror to give herself a final look over before heading out. Though she had seen her reflection a thousand times, the image she beheld never ceased to amaze her, for she was no longer the slender, bony kneed girl that she had been four years ago. On the contrary, she now exuded the very essence of a woman who had beautifully come into her own. Not to say that she hadn't considered herself to be pretty before, it was just that, now, she was clearly no longer a child.

Her long legs were brilliantly tanned from the long hours she had spent outside during the summer break. She had curves that were not overly exaggerated, but also not so slight as to go unnoticed either. Her face had lost its soft baby roundness and instead had just the right amount of sleek angles to give her a bit of an edge. Two things had not changed however, her warm smile and her almond eyes. They appeared to have missed the adolescent memo, much to Raimei's glee. She didn't want everything to change so much that she no longer recognized who she was.

Exhaling thoughtfully, she gathered together her school books and threw them hastily into her bag before running out her bedroom door and speeding to the stairwell.

Gau was just scooping some scrambled eggs onto both of their plates when the blonde dashed clumsily into the little kitchen.

"Sorry." she said giving him a 'please forgive me' look. Gau simply laughed and pulled a milk jug from the inside of the fridge door.

"I'm not the one whose education is suffering from so many late appearances."

Raimei sighed as she slid into the chair directly across from the one Gau usually occupied.

"That's true" she muttered. He chuckled again, setting the jug precisely in the middle of the old wooden table then sitting down himself to enjoy the morning's feast. Raimei had attempted on numerous occasions when they had initially moved in to cook the meals, always with disastrous results. Gau simply possessed more of a knack for the whole cooking thing, so Raimei pitched in mostly by cleaning and doing little chores here and there when needed. It was a good partnership and they both had grown to enjoy their life together. Times got hard however. Even though their apartment building was small, rent was not cheap, and they had sacrificed a lot to keep their home. But it was always worth it just to have something solid to hold onto.

Raimei inhaled her bacon and eggs like a human vacuum. Gau had attempted on numerous occasions to explain to her the necessity of chewing her food, but she had never listened. So instead, after assuming his inexorable defeat, he sat quietly resigned while looking through a few medical textbooks that he had borrowed to study.

"Do you work today?" he asked without lifting his eyes from the page.

"No," she said after swallowing her food, "but I think Miharu and I might do something later. I won't be home late though since it's a Monday."

"Alright." Gau answered neutrally. "I'll leave something in the fridge in case you get hungry later on tonight."

Raimei smiled. "Thanks."

Her eyes happened to drift to the round clock that hung on the adjacent wall and her heart skipped a beat as she read the current time. She frantically leaped from her chair, grabbing a piece of toast and an orange from the fruit bowl as she ran to the front door.

"Sorry Gau," she said juggling her bag and the goods in her hand, "I got to go."

As she opened the door to the outside world, she hollered behind her, "Thanks for breakfast!" and skipped down the stairs onto the street below.

Inside Gau chuckled, thinking that Raikou and his sister were a lot more alike than they would ever know.

* * *

A figure stood impatiently with his back leaning against the concrete wall behind him. Every few minutes he would unconsciously reach his hand into his coat pocket and pull out his cellular device, only to flip it open then abruptly close it once he had glanced at the screen.

She was late. Again.

He didn't know why he continued to expect anything different. If there was one thing Raimei could be counted on to be consistent in, it was her ability to be inconsistent. One day she would be there early, smiling and waving at him when he approached, and the next, they were both trying to sneak into the school inconspicuously because the gates had already been closed. Raimei always found those occasions to be rather humorous, Miharu on the other hand, did not.

Like his close friend, Miharu had also undergone some drastic physical changes during the last four years. The small, unremarkable boy whose presence had a tendency to go unnoticed amongst the throngs of people, now stood out like a huge beacon. He had easily grown 12 inches and now towered at an astonishing height of 6'3, a fact that the school basketball team was always keen to remind him of. These rapid changes fortunately had not progressed his build to resemble that of an awkward pubescent. On the contrary, his long, lanky arms and legs emitted a somewhat exotic feel, and, as a consequence, the way in which he held himself continued to fuel the curiosity of random passerby, who frequently asked him if he was some foreign model. On these occasions, he would grasp the signature headphones that rested around his neck and, without a word in reply, place them purposely onto his ears as he casually walked away. His attitude and tendency to be harshly honest to people he didn't even know had remained unaltered.

Just as he had made up his mind to head to the school alone, he heard the familiar thumping of tennis shoes as they raced around the corner and found himself face to face with his old friend. Breathing steadily like the athlete she was, Raimei promptly stood composed before him.

"Morning!" she exclaimed happily, and then with a more adjusted, serious tone to match the look on his face, she whispered "Sorry I'm so late".

As they started walking Miharu felt his phone begin to vibrate in his pocket and at first was intent on ignoring it. After the first silence he exhaled an inner sigh of relief, only to have the small device begin to demand his attention once again.

"Are you going to get that?" Raimei questioned with a knowing smile.

"No." Miharu said simply.

"Well I think you should" she said reaching skillfully for his pocket before he had the chance to stop her.

"Hey-" Miharu exclaimed angrily, but she had already obtained the device and had flipped it open before the ringing had gone silent a second time.

"Hello? Yeah it's me."

Miharu mumbled something unpleasant under his breath and began to take long strides toward the school. He did not want Raimei poking into his business.

"Yea he's here but I get the feeling he doesn't want to talk" she chuckled playfully to the person on the line. The bubbling blonde was silent for a minute, listening intently to the speaker on the other line.

"Ok, I'll tell him." Then she clamped the phone shut and tossed it back to Miharu.

"That was Hanabusa, she wanted to know if you were going to be back for dinner tonight or not."

"Probably." Was all he said in return.

Raimei couldn't help but prod further. "You should cut him some slack you know. He is trying."

To this, Miharu simply grumbled.

"What exactly happened this time?"

"Just something stupid."

"It's always something stupid with you two. You're both too stubborn."

Miharu was eager to let it go with that and quickened his stride just a little so as to allow his partner to get the hint. Raimei let out an exaggerated sigh and began to follow in suit when Miharu heard her pace suddenly falter. As he glanced behind him, he saw Raimei surveying the area suspiciously, her frame tensed ever so slightly in anticipation of something.

He had only one thought as he watched the blonde's shinobi instincts kick into high gear.

This can't be good.

* * *

Raimei suddenly felt a pair of eyes on the back of her neck and instantly braced herself to confront who ever had been watching her from behind. But when she had turned to face her opponent, she was met with an eerily empty street.

Huh.

That was strange.

She had been positive that someone was watching her.

Not entirely able to shake the unsettling feeling, she took a quick survey of all the buildings and trees wondering if her attacker hailed from above.

Old habits die hard.

All the while she felt herself looking over her shoulder, wondering why this feeling felt so familiar.

"What is it?" Miharu asked puzzled.

Raimei didn't reply directly, just simply maintained her inspection of the immediate area.

"Raimei…?"

"I thought… I thought I felt someone watching me" she said still slightly agitated.

Miharu instantly became on the alert, scanning the cross section and stone walls that surrounded them. In the shinobi world, you could never be too careful.

"I'm sure it was nothing." Raimei hurriedly said and Miharu refocused his eyes upon her, clearly implying with his gaze that he didn't believe her.

"Whatever you say," he replied with a shrug. Inwardly though, he had a feeling that it probably was indeed "something".

They both continued their journey towards the school building, neither one of them wanting to draw attention to the uneasiness that now hung thickly in the air. On the surface, they made small talk, wondering aloud to one another what great dinner Hanabusa was going to cook up for them tonight when they returned home, and, what kind of trouble awaited them at the front gate since they were now running nearly twenty minutes late for thier first class.

Meanwhile, not so far off in the distance, an onlooker watched them leave, a menacing smile slowly creeping its way across their face.

* * *

Thank you for all the comments telling me to get my act together and get this next chapter out! Without you all, I would lose my motivation. Hope you enjoy, and keep the feedback coming :)


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